A, B, and C positions (The Differentiated Workforce)

In their latest book, “The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact”, Huselid, Becker, and Beatty continue to promote differentiation as the key to successfully managing the workforce. In particular, they suggest that managers and HR pros identify truly strategic roles in their businesses and then focus on managing the variability in employee performance (A, B, and C players).

Identifying strategic roles might be a challenge for many companies that have traditionally tended to label senior jobs as such and instituted differentiated pay, development opportunities, and working conditions. Standard perks to underline the importance of those strategic roles have included assigned parking spaces, training retreats, and enclosed office spaces (or at least “wooden” floors as opposed to linoleum).

It goes to show that companies have also been successful in differentiating between front line and back office employees. After all, the lack of a direct link to business strategy and focus on servicing “internal customers” has created many opportunities for underinvestment in Traditional HR, Admin, IT, and Finance. For example:
• Physical isolation from the revenue departments. Did you ever need to walk through a dark corridor or turn your hips to make your way between cabinets to reach the HR or IT department?
• Second-hand equipment and furnishings. Did you ever see back office staff sitting at their old desks and on their old chairs even after the Company’s move to a new office whereby everyone else received new stuff?
• Unsophisticated and uninspiring interior design. The grand lobbies and waiting areas abound and at the same time 2m by 2m cubicles for sales professionals have defined “what’s normal” in corporations worldwide. But, did you ever leave behind the brightly painted walls in the front office area and step into the grey painted world of the back office?

While no changes are to expect for back office (sorry if I am too pessimistic here), front line should be reshaped by the new kind of differentiation. Companies should differentiate between positions based on their strategic significance while recognizing that an entry-level, customer-facing position may be more strategic than the obvious C-suite jobs. I am looking forward to more progressive HR departments' that not only intend to create a workforce that competitors cannot easily copy but also guide this process forward.